Unlocking Real-Time Onchain: A Guide to Ephemeral Rollups

TL;DR: 
• The Problem: Blockchain developers historically had to choose between performance and composability - a tradeoff that stalls innovation
• The Solution: MagicBlock's Ephemeral Rollups: temporary, high-speed (10ms) execution environments integrated with Solana
• Key Difference: No bridges or separate tokens - maintain full Solana composability and unified liquidity
• Unique Features: Access app-specific extensions (plugins) for customization, such as randomness, custom sequencing, and permissioned environments
• Tangible Benefits: Processing millions of TPS with near-zero fees while preserving Solana's security model
• Proven Success: Already powering real-time DeFi, gaming, and communication applications without compromise

‍The Challenge Facing Blockchain Scaling Today

Solana has redefined what’s possible for high-performance blockchains, delivering speed, composability, and low fees at scale. But as developers push into new territory with fully onchain games, real-time DeFi, and responsive social apps, the demands on infrastructure are evolving.

These use cases currently face fundamental challenges in:

• Latency ceiling - Even Solana's 400ms block times are too limiting for truly real-time experiences
• Cost scaling - When millions of transactions are needed, even "low fees" become prohibitive
• Throughput constraints - Single-chain architectures struggle with high-volume, high-concurrency applications

Blockchain developers face an impossible choice: sacrifice performance for composability (by staying on L1), or sacrifice composability for performance (by moving to L2 or appchains). This tradeoff has stalled innovation across the industry.

Enter Ephemeral Rollups: The Architecture

Ephemeral Rollups are temporary, high-performance execution environments that extend Solana’s capabilities on demand, without creating separate networks or tokens. 

Think of them as specialized express lanes that:

1. Execute transactions in real-time (10- 50ms end-to-end latency)
2. Remain fully synchronized with Solana's state
3. Auto-scale to handle massive throughput
4. Provide app-specific customization options

With MagicBlock’s Ephemeral Rollups, developers build directly on Solana and gain access to a powerful set of app-specific extensions (also called Solana Plugins). These include real-time pricing feeds, custom sequencing logic, and institutional-grade permissioned environments. These plugins run inside the ephemeral environment, offering flexibility typically reserved for dedicated appchains, without losing access to Solana’s liquidity or composability.

Unlike traditional L2s or appchains, Ephemeral Rollups avoid bridges, separate tokens, and fragmented state. They are fully anchored to Solana and built for end-to-end latency, from transaction signing to confirmation in just milliseconds.

Why Ephemeral Rollups Work:

⚡ 10ms Execution, On-Demand

Developers can configure their own runtimes, block cadence, compute limits, and even randomness, without leaving Solana or breaking compatibility. Real-time responsiveness, no re-architecture required.

🧠 Composable by Design

Most rollups fragment app state across isolated environments. MagicBlock doesn’t. It synchronizes state and intelligently routes transactions between Solana and the ephemeral layer using a specialized RPC system, so everything stays composable and easy to build around.

💸 Near-Zero Fees, Even at Scale

Solana is already low-fee, but MagicBlock takes it further. By compressing execution into ephemeral bursts, MagicBlock reduces cost to the point of zero-fee interactions, ideal for fully onchain games, DeFi, and on-chain social.

🧩 Built-In Access to App Extensions

With MagicBlock’s Ephemeral Rollups, developers can build natively on Solana while accessing app-specific extensions such as real-time pricing feeds and institutional-grade permissioned environments. These plugins run inside the ephemeral runtime, delivering flexibility without fragmented liquidity or added complexity.

📈 True Horizontal Scaling

Traditional rollups hit scaling limits. MagicBlock doesn’t. With horizontal auto-scaling, multiple Ephemeral Rollups can be spun up in parallel, processing millions of transactions per second.

How Do Ephemeral Rollups Work? A Step-By-Step Breakdown

1. Delegation

State accounts are delegated to an Ephemeral Rollup via MagicBlock’s Delegation Program.

You set the rules: how long the rollup runs, how often it commits back, and what states get accelerated.

2. Smart Routing

Transactions are routed to the appropriate execution layer (base or Ephemeral) via an RPC router.

3. Fast Execution

Once accounts are delegated, the Ephemeral Rollup spins up a high-speed runtime, tailored for your app’s needs. The system strategically provisions this runtime in geographic proximity to users,  using dynamic co-location, minimizing network latency. Transactions run in milliseconds, enabling real-time experiences with no lag and no gas.

4. Secure Settlement

Behind the scenes, the rollup operator periodically commits state changes optimistically back to Solana that can be challenged permissionlessly by fraud proofs.

This process utilizes Solana’s cryptographic checks to ensure the same security guarantees as Solana itself, without slowing things down.

5. Undelegation

When the account states are undelegated, the delegated accounts are released back to the base layer, fully synced and composable with Solana.

‍How Do Ephemeral Rollups Compare to Other Scaling Methods?

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💡 Unlike traditional Layer 2 alternatives, Ephemeral Rollups maintain the security and composability of Layer 1 while significantly improving transaction speed and cost efficiency.

Real-World Applications of Ephemeral Rollups

🎮 Real-time Gaming

For fully on-chain games, latency is everything. Even small delays can break immersion or gameplay flow.

Ephemeral Rollups provide a way to execute game logic in real-time, without relying on bridges or custom wallets, making smooth, gasless interactions possible while keeping everything anchored to Solana.

📈 DeFi

In decentralized finance, timing can make or break a trade.

Ephemeral Rollups help reduce latency in execution paths for orderbooks, AMMs, and prediction markets, offering a more responsive backend while retaining native composability with the rest of the ecosystem.

🌐 DePIN

DePIN networks often require high-throughput, low-latency coordination between many participants. Ephemeral Rollups provide Scalable node communication infrastructure, Low-cost micropayments, Real-time service execution and verification, and Secure, trustless protocol governance.

💼 Payments & Enterprise

Applications that involve high-frequency or high-volume transactions, like B2B flows or micropayments, can benefit from the scalability and cost-efficiency of ephemeral execution, while maintaining the security and auditability of Solana Layer 1.

🗣️ SocialFi

To feel like Web2, social apps need instant feedback - likes, tips, replies - in milliseconds. Ephemeral Rollups deliver real-time, gasless interactions while staying fully composable with Solana, making truly decentralized SocialFi finally usable at scale.

Project Spotlight: Use Cases of Ephemeral Rollups

• Flash Trade: A decentralized derivatives exchange that uses MagicBlock’s Ephemeral Rollups to execute high-frequency, gas-efficient trades on Solana with minimal latency
• Supersize: A fully on-chain real-time multiplayer game that leverages Ephemeral Rollups for low-latency gameplay (sub-30ms) while preserving Solana’s liquidity and composability, enabling seamless PvP interactions without fragmentation
• dTelecom: A decentralized real-time communication network integrating MagicBlock’s Ephemeral Rollups to achieve sub-50ms latency and ultra-cheap fees for on-chain messaging and VPN services, all without sacrificing Solana composability
• Pyth Lazer: An ultra-fast oracle feed delivering price updates at 1ms intervals via Ephemeral Rollups, allowing Solana dApps to access real-time market data with the lowest latency for high-performance DeFi trading
• Zeebit: A gaming platform for provably fair games of chance that delegates each game into Ephemeral Rollups, attaining Web2-like speed and a gasless, uninterrupted user experience on Solana while maintaining full on-chain transparency and composability

Each of these use cases highlights that you don’t have to compromise between performance and decentralization.

Implementation Guide: Getting Started

Ready to implement Ephemeral Rollups in your application? Here's the path to integration based on the official documentation:

1. Write Your Solana Program - Develop your program as you usually would using Anchor, native Rust, or other supported languages
2. Add Delegation and Undelegation Hooks - Integrate the SDK to enable account delegation to the Ephemeral Rollup
3. Deploy Your Program on Solana - Your program is deployed directly on Solana (not on a separate chain)
4. Execute Transactions - Use the MagicBlock RPC endpoints to route transactions appropriately

Visit our documentation for detailed integration guides, SDK references, and sample applications.

The Future is Real-Time

Ephemeral Rollups represent a fundamental shift in how we think about blockchain scalability. Rather than forcing developers to choose between performance and composability, MagicBlock eliminates the tradeoff entirely. Build on Solana, harness millisecond execution, and keep everything seamlessly integrated without bridges or fragmentation.

The most exciting blockchain applications aren't just theoretically possible anymore, they're achievable today. From games that feel indistinguishable from centralized servers to financial systems that match CEX performance with DEX security, Ephemeral Rollups unlock what developers have been seeking since blockchain began: true real-time performance without compromising on what makes Web3 revolutionary.

Ready to build at the speed of imagination? MagicBlock's documentation and developer resources are available now. The revolution in blockchain performance isn't coming—it's already here.

FAQs: Everything You Need to Know About Ephemeral Rollups

Q1: How are Ephemeral Rollups different from traditional rollups like Optimistic or ZK Rollups?

Traditional rollups create permanent, separate execution environments with their own tokens, often requiring bridges and introducing withdrawal delays. Ephemeral Rollups, by contrast, are short-lived, high-speed execution layers directly tied to Solana, with no new tokens, bridges, or fragmentation. They’re purpose-built for real-time responsiveness, with state that syncs natively to Solana.

The security and settlement model of Ephemeral Rollups blends elements of both Optimistic and ZK rollups: fast, fraud-provable execution with cryptographic guarantees and permissionless challenges.

Q2: What security guarantees do Ephemeral Rollups provide?

Ephemeral Rollups inherit Solana's security model and add additional safeguards:

• Time-bound delegations that automatically expire
• Cryptographic verification of state transitions
• Permissionless fraud-proof system allowing anyone to challenge invalid state updates
• Forced undelegation if security constraints are violated

Q3: How do developers integrate Ephemeral Rollups with existing Solana programs?

Integration requires minimal changes to your existing Solana program:

1. Add the MagicBlock SDK
2. Implement delegation logic for specific accounts
3. Update your client code to use the MagicBlock RPC provider
4. Configure your rollup parameters (block time, settlement frequency, etc.)

There's no need to migrate to a new chain or use new programming languages.

Q4: What happens if an Ephemeral Rollup operator goes offline?

If a rollup operator becomes unavailable:

1. No new transactions are processed in the rollup
2. When the delegation period expires, accounts are automatically unlocked on Solana
3. A new Ephemeral Rollup instance can pick up the session and continue execution
4. The system can be configured for automatic redeployment to new infrastructure
5. No funds or state are ever at risk, as everything is anchored to Solana

Q5: How much does it cost to use Ephemeral Rollups?

Pricing is based on a pay-as-you-go model, with costs determined by:

• Duration of the rollup deployment
• Compute resources allocated (throughput, memory)
• Settlement frequency to Solana
• Custom features enabled (VRF, SPEs, etc.)

For most applications, the cost is significantly lower than paying individual transaction fees, especially at scale.